Don Jr.’s Ex-Wife Apparently Used To Think Dad Donald Trump Had an Intellectual Disability

The start of Donald Trump Jr.'s romance with his first wife, Vanessa Trump was marked by a memorable and embarrassing introduction arranged by his father, Donald Trump. The man who would go on to become the 45th President of the United States ironically did not make the best of first impressions on his future daughter-in-law. Before she met Donald Jr., Vanessa Trump, a former model and actress, led an influential life.

She appeared in the 2003 movie Something's Gotta Give in a small part, and in 1998, she made news when she was seen at a movie premiere with Leonardo DiCaprio, per Business Insider. It was during this period that she encountered the Trump family. At a fashion event in 2003, Vanessa and Donald Jr. had their first encounter. Ever the matchmaker, Donald saw Vanessa first and knew right away that she would be the ideal partner for his son, per GQ. As Trump recalled on Oprah's show in 2011, “Vanessa walked in front of me at this big fashion show. She looked so beautiful, I said, ‘Don, that's the person you should marry.’”

But Vanessa's recollection of the occasion was not exactly glowing. She recalled the uncomfortable introduction in a 2006 interview with The New York Times. "Donald Trump comes up to me with his son: 'Hi, I'm Donald Trump. I wanted to introduce you to my son Donald Trump Jr.'" The awkward and stiff exchange was exacerbated when Trump brought up his son again at the show's interval, forgetting completely that they'd just met. 

She remembers responding, 'Yeah, we just met, five minutes ago.'" Their first interactions had been funny, but it didn't stop there. Vanessa and Donald Jr. reconnected at a gathering hosted by a mutual friend six weeks later, where they spoke for hours before realizing they knew each other. "Then suddenly, something clicked: Wait, you were at that fashion show. Wait, you're 'the one with the ret**ded dad!' Vanessa blurted out." Using the word "ret**ded" is considered offensive and outdated as it perpetuates harmful stereotypes about individuals with intellectual disabilities; instead, one can use terms like "intellectually disabled" or "individual with cognitive disabilities."

Despite their difficult beginnings and Vanessa's negative first impression of Donald, she and Donald Jr. started dating, eventually resulting in their marriage in 2005. The pair went on to raise five children together, having a happy marriage, until their divorce in 2018. The couple began having problems right after Donald's presidency began.

A source told PageSix at the time of their divorce in 2018 that “the problems have been there for a long time, the couple had hoped to stay together during the president’s time in office, but it is getting harder to resolve their issues. He’s [Donald Jr.] never there.” When their father was president, Don Jr. and his brother Eric were in charge of the Trump Organization. Another source informed the outlet that Vanessa feels quite alone because of this. “Don Jr. has been busy traveling, which has contributed to their problems. Vanessa is a devoted mother, but she is increasingly lonely and alone in the house with the children.”